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Amazon Is Not Holding Back on Paul Ryan

“The Way Forward,” a book by Representative Paul D. Ryan, Republican of Wisconsin, was published by an imprint of Hachette, which has been battling Amazon over e-book prices.Credit Rick Wilking/Reuters

All Hachette authors are equal, but some are more equal than others.

Before Representative Paul Ryan’s book “The Way Forward” was published by Twelve, a Hachette imprint, it was impossible to order on Amazon. The retailer has been refusing pre-orders on just about all new Hachette books as a way of gaining leverage in its dispute with the publisher over e-book terms.

It is a very effective weapon. Pre-orders show the accumulating interest in a new title and help the publisher gauge the size of the print run. If pre-orders are strong, they put the book on the bestseller list in its first week, which could give it enough momentum to stay there for a while.

After “The Way Forward” became officially available Aug. 19, there was another problem. It was not easy to find the book on the retailer’s site. The only thing that came up was the audio book. A glitch, perhaps – although it seems to happen to other Hachette books as well.

Any author is going to be a little annoyed if the country’s largest bookseller appears reluctant to sell his book. So when Mr. Ryan, Republican of Wisconsin, appeared on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Aug. 20, he seemed peeved at Amazon.

Paul Ryan on Amazon and E-Books

“As a congressman I have to watch what I say,” he said. But he went on to call the bookseller’s actions “a very frustrating thing” and added that “clearly Amazon is making kind of a power play here.”

Is Amazon a monopoly?

“I don’t know the answer to that question,” he said.

He might not be a fan of regulation, but should something be done here?

“If I were just a private citizen I would voice one straight opinion,” he began, but noted again that he was a member of Congress.

Was Amazon listening? At right about that moment, the retailer suddenly began treating Mr. Ryan, the 2012 Republican vice presidential nominee, much better. Customers could suddenly find his book. It was fully discounted. And they could get it immediately.

How Amazon prices books is a mystery. It does not explain its pricing policies, and a spokeswoman declined to comment for this post.

In general, though, new books seem discounted more than older books, while the most popular books have the highest discounts. Presumably this is because Amazon wants to remain competitive on books the buyer is likely to see in Barnes & Noble or an independent shop.

With the new Hachette hardcovers — paperbacks and older books seem to follow other rules — Amazon has largely reversed its usual formula. It barely discounts the books at all, and takes as long as five weeks to ship them.

But a few books fare better.

For instance, “13 Hours: The Inside Account of What Really Happened in Benghazi” and “How Google Works” are among the top 100 sellers on Amazon. Although they are Hachette books, they ship immediately and are heavily discounted.

So Amazon is selling the bestsellers and delaying everything else? But this is not what is happening either.

Despite those shipping delays — coupled with the minimal discounts — both “Mean Streak,” with an Amazon bestseller ranking of 1,145 on Monday afternoon, and “Death of a King,” at 1,419, are selling as well or better than “The Way Forward,” at 1,401.

“The wind was at my back, but Amazon diminished some of that momentum at a key moment,” said Daniel Schulman, its author.

Some authors might be bitter at this, and forswear Amazon forever. But as he awaits the birth of his first child, Mr. Schulman personally remains a devoted Amazon customer. “Do I like it when I press Buy?” he asked. “It does bother me. It’s a split brain thing. My wife would probably divorce me if I got rid of our Amazon Prime subscription.”

Mr. Schulman’s conclusion: “If you’re a powerful business mogul or politician, Amazon might not mess with your book sales.” Too bad, he joked, that he is not on the 2016 presidential short list.

A spokesman for Mr. Ryan, Don Meyer, declined to comment.

Correction: September 30, 2014An earlier version of this blog post misstated the year in which Representative Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin was the Republican vice presidential nominee. It was in 2012, not 2014.